Counterfeiting poses a serious problem for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, electronics, software, automotive and aircraft industries, to name a few. Counterfeit products can lead to lost revenues, increased liability, and brand erosion. Product recalls due to counterfeit warnings are expensive and disruptive.
Crude counterfeiters typically use offset presses to print packages and labels for counterfeit products. Although counterfeiting is cheap, all packages appear the same.
Such crude counterfeiting can be thwarted by adding unique features to the packages. For example, serial numbers can be printed or embossed on the packages.
Other anti-counterfeiting measures can be taken. Anti-counterfeiting measures intended for detection by end-users include marking products with holograms. Anti-counterfeiting measures intended for forensic analysts include marking products with micro-displacement of glyphs. Anti-counterfeiting measures intended for trained inspectors include marking products with fluorescent inks. However, these other anti-counterfeiting measures add complexity or cost (or both) to product packaging.
For trained inspectors, certain situations require quick, unobtrusive detection. An inspector might have to enter a store and determine whether the products being sold are counterfeit. If the inspector draws attention, his life could be at risk.
Marking goods with serial numbers and fluorescent inks do not facilitate quick, unobtrusive detection.
A quick, unobtrusive anti-counterfeiting measure intended for trained inspectors would be desirable. A simple and inexpensive implementation of such a method would also be desirable.